All posts by guster

Get a FREE Evertaster: The Delicious City Poster

The day is finally near! Evertaster: The Delicious City launches this Monday September 26th on Amazon.com. Since this is the 3rd book in the Evertaster Series, I wanted to give you a special treat if you order anytime on Monday September 26th – Tuesday September 27.

Yep, you’ll get an exclusive autographed poster from me in the US mail if you order on those two days. You have to hurry though. This special bonus is only good for books bought onAmazon on September 26-27th, 2016.

To claim your autographed poster, follow the steps below:

Step 1: On September 26th-27th, click here to order Evertaster: The Delicious City on Amazon:

Step 2: Amazon.com automatically sends an email to your inbox with the subject:

Your Amazon.com order of “Evertaster: The Delicious City”.‏

Open the email and forward it to contact@evertaster.com. Before you click send, write “Prizes Please!” in the body of the email like so:

Be sure to forward the email to contact@evertaster.com.

Step 3: Scroll down in your email until you see this:

Click to share on Facebook. Use the hashtag #TheDeliciousCity You can tweet it or share on Pinterest too!

You’re all done! Give me at least 1 week to get your poster to you, since my wrist is going to be tired with all that signing. Bonus rewards are only good in the USA.

Remember, this offer only applies to Evertaster: The Delicious City books bought on Monday September 26th – Tuesday September 27, so be sure to make your purchase and send the email that day! Click here to get started:

“Fast paced and full of heart! I gobbled up every word of this book buffet!” –Frank L. Cole Author of The Afterlife Academy

The long anticipated sequel to Evertaster is now here. Readers have been asking me for this book for years, and I’m finally done. First I had to tour 300 schools across the country, start my own publishing company, finish Evertaster: The Buttersmiths’ Gold, publish Chum, kickstart Fetch, do animation for Warcraft and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and have 2 more children. Phew! Now I can finally tell you the next phase in the Johnsonville’s story.

Here’s what happens to Guster in this book:

Ever since he took a bite of a legendary dessert last summer, twelve-year-old Guster Johnsonville has never been the same. In fact, when a strange little man dressed as a conquistador comes clattering into the barn at the back of the Johnsonville farmhouse one afternoon, he forces Guster to face the truth: Guster is now the most delicious thing in the whole world, and a terrible monster is coming to eat him.

The monster is one of the Yummies—a pack of horrible, ferocious creatures with an appetite for sweets. What other choice do Guster, Zeke, and Mariah have than to run away from home to escape the mysterious beast?

On the run in a far corner of the world, Guster and his siblings discover a secret settlement known as the Delicious City. Now, with the Yummies hot on their trail and the Delicious City’s Mayor determined to feed Guster to the beasts, Guster must embrace his talents as an Evertaster if he’s going to save the city from collapsing and get his family out alive.

If you enjoyed the first Evertaster, you’re going to love this new adventure. Early readers gave it some good praise:

“Another well written book that lives up to the first two!! Can’t wait to get an actual book!” –Melissa T.

“Amazing book! . . . I can’t wait to see the final product. Expect me to be one of your first orders!!” –Ammon S.

The cool thing is that for the next 4 days only, you can get a copy — before it’s available in stores in September — on Kickstarter. Plus you can get some really cool bonuses there that you can’t get anywhere else.

It’s not very often I get to be part of something like this. 19 other authors and I each wrote a short story for a book called True Heroes. True Heroes is a collection of modern-day fairy tales about real kids who are fighting cancer. I wrote a story for the book for Ellie, who’s always dreamed of being a baker:

Ellie’s was diagnosed with stage 2 of differentiated sarcoma of the kidney in 2013. She is currently in remission and able to lead a much more normal life. Her dream is to be a baker. So Jon Diaz, the talented photographer behind the project made it happen.

True Heroes is one of those projects you just want to be a part of and hope that it succeeds. Some other authors felt the same way, like Brandon Mull (NYT Bestselling author of Fablehaven), Jennifer Neilsen (NYT Bestselling author of The False Prince), and my buddies Chad Morris (Cragbridge Hall Series), and Jeff Savage (Mysteries of Cove). Their stories are all in there too.

If you’re near Provo, Utah this Saturday, Shadow Mountain Publishing is hosting a launch party with many of the authors of True Heroes at the Provo City Library Saturday, September 12th at 3pm.

Photographer Jonathan Diaz used his portrait photography skills to bring the kids’ dreams to life with photos. I first met Jon when a friend introduced us because Jon wanted some advice on the publishing world and bringing his book to life. I was really happy when his book found a publishing home. He’s incredibly talented.

The photo series is titled “True Heroes.” Each photo features a child in the midst of their dream setting.

These are some of my favorites:

Here is a behind the scenes video for Ellie the Baker

And her photo:

Jon asked me to write the story of Ellie the Baker since I’m the guy who wrote Evertaster. It makes sense right? I guess I am known to a lot of people for writing a series about food. I’ll have to write more about dinosaurs and see what comes of that.

You can read my story, Ellie the Baker and get a copy of True Heroes wherever books are sold.

Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. The commitment to printing books was too much of a set-in-stone, once-you’ve-gone-down-that-road-you-can’t-look-back scenario. But I come from a world of movie makers, where we pride ourselves in the director’s cut. So I did one for CHUM.

While writing the book, I kept wrestling with the age of Levi Middleworth, our protagonist and would-be hero. He kept going back and forth between 13 years old and 16. Finally I settled on 13, because it was closer to Guster’s age in Evertaster (he’s 11 in book #1). It made sense because my main audience was elementary school kids. But something about that age didn’t fit with the rest of the story. CHUM needed to be seen by high school readers. The subtleties of growing up and the forging of one’s identity would only ring true to a high school teen. CHUM, ultimately, is made for a Young Adult audience.

But it’s too wacky and ridiculous, you say? There are little yellow, round-headed autonomous bots wandering around a ship, and sharks who speak? Don’t worry! There’s a perfectly scientific explanation for all this, just like all the episodes of Doctor Who ever made. No really. It’s all plausible! There are even chemical compounds referenced in the text that would actually make this work. If Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy can get away with it, then so will I (maybe).

So for the e-book, I broke some rules. I changed Levi’s age to 14, and now he’s preparing to enter high school instead of eighth grade. One year of roiling, confusing hormones mixed with coming-of-age, identity questions about who-you-are and what-is-everything-all-about can make a big difference. That single year is a major adolescent to young adult threshold. Besides, it just felt right.

Is this even legal you ask? How dare he! This story was locked in stone. “Levi will always be 13 to me!” You might say. Good. That is good. We still have the paperback edition, standing as it has always been written here. But, I think when you see this new cover, you might say “O, now that was worth it.” Look how great this is!

Scary, dangerous, true to the peril which you will face inside its pages, this cover holds nothing back. (Thanks to Chris Harvey, the artist and my good friend for capturing and posing this shark just so).

As of right now, you can get a copy of the Director’s Cut of Chum, with this new killer shark cover, for the special e-book discount price. See you soon.

It’s no secret that I love Comic-Con. San Diego of course, has always been the king of Cons. I get professional passes because of my work as a VFX artist. So on a whim, I hopped a flight and spent Friday and Saturday learning the true meaning of comics.

I jumped off of Big Ben on the Assassin’s Creed obstacle course. Think Parkour meets American Ninja Warrior. Don’t worry, there’s an airbag at the bottom.

There was a healthy dose of World of Warcraft items from the upcoming Warcraft movie. I thought this was cool, since I haven’t really been able to talk about working on that film. Now some of our work is going public. Warcraft comes out June 2016. Here’s one of the Orcs:

And here is one guy from the Alliance, brought to you by Weta Workshop and their Armory. I’ve always loved their craftsmanship:

And then, of course, there was Batman, back to a classic suit from a bygone era:

I don’t care what the screenwriters or comic writers say, Superman would totally win.

And finally, some amazing cosplay. The turtles from the 90’s era movie, incredibly well done and pretty amazing:

I’ll be on a couple panels at the upcoming Salt Lake City Comic Con, as well as signing books. So come on by if you’re in Utah. That’s September 24-26. Stop by the Future House Publishing booth too, and I’ll sign a copy for you.

Authors are always asking me how to get their books made. These last few months I helped my friends Rick and Ryan publish their picture book FLOATER. It’s out today on Amazon! http://amzn.to/1F085X4 After making the Fetch Trailer, we couldn’t resist making one for Floater too. See if you can recognize the narrator. Did that voice sound familiar? Yep, it’s actually me. What’s super cool is you can even get custom, limited edition sketches from the artist if you order today. Go here:http://www.futurehousepublishing.com/2014/11/17/floater-launches-wednesday-november-19th/

Hello my friends! CHUM launches this Wednesday October 22nd! Everywhere I go, readers ask me when the next book in the Evertaster series will be finished so they can read it. Well, good news! If you buy CHUM on Wednesday from Amazon, I will send you the top secret, rough, uncut first couple chapters of the Delicious City! Yep, you’ll get an exclusive copy of the work in progress sent to you in the US mail.

This special bonus is only good for books bought onAmazon on Wednesday, October 22nd. To claim your bonus rough draft, follow the steps below:

Step 1: On Wednesday, October 22nd, click here to order CHUM on Amazon:

Step 2: Amazon.com automatically sends an email to your inbox with the subject:

Your Amazon.com order of “Chum”.‏

Open the email and forward it to publicity@evertaster.com. Before you click send, write “Prizes Please!” in the body of the email like so:

Be sure to forward the email to publicity@evertaster.com.

Step 3: Scroll down in your email until you see this:

Click to share on Facebook. Use the hashtag #ChumTheBook. You can tweet it or share on Pinterest too!

You’re all done! Give me at least 2 weeks to get your rough draft to you, since my wrist is going to be tired with all that signing. Bonus rewards are only good in the USA.

Remember, this offer only applies to CHUM books bought on Wednesday, October 22nd, so be sure to make your purchase and send the email that day! Click here to get started:

You know how I spent 10 years making VFX and animation for movies? Well, a few months ago, some producers actually approached me and asked if they could buy the movie rights for Evertaster!

I just signed the papers a few weeks ago, and was waiting for it to be public before I gave any details. I confess, when I was working on King Kong or Tron, I always dreamed of putting my own story up on the screen one day. I didn’t have 100 million dollars (which is what it takes to make some movies), so I started writing instead. And then BOOM! This happens. The unexpected. The wonderful. And guess who has set out to turn Evertaster into a movie?

That’s right. Orson Scott Card, creator of the famous Ender’s Game and a writer I respect. I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Mr. Card. Here’s a blurb from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Veteran special effects director for TRON and KING KONG, Adam Sidwell’s EVERTASTER, which follows the adventures of an 11 year-old picky eater as he travels the globe in search of the elusive “gastronomy of peace”, the most delicious recipe the world has ever known, all while being pursued by a cult of murderous chefs, to producer Orson Scott Card, and Peter Johnson of Taleswapper, by Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group.

So there you have it. Now when will this happen, you ask? This summer? Next year? The truth is when someone buys the movie rights, they have a specific time frame in which they must write a script, hire actors, and find the investors to fund the film and get it made. Evertaster will be an expensive movie to make. Just think about those gorillas and giant chickens the size of tigers! We’ve already had some discussion about what is absolutely necessary and what is not. We sat down in a story meeting and combed through the plot points and character motivation, so that we were all on the same page. Peter Johnson has been great to work with, and Scott Card is so supportive and encouraging! So there’s a long road to go, but this is an incredible first step, and I’m ecstatic to be on this journey. I can’t wait to see you all at the theater.